CHAPTER TOOLS

Keywords:

adolescent anorexia nervosa;

anorexic child;

anorexic symptoms;

eating disorder (ED);

family therapy;

multifamily therapy (MFT);

therapeutic interventions

Summary

This chapter begins with a discussion on studies of family therapy for child and adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN). Most family therapy approaches that have been studied emphasize the role of the parents in managing the eating disorder (ED) symptoms in the early stages of treatment with a broadening of focus to individual or family issues at a later stage. The focus of the therapeutic interventions is to help the family to find solutions and minimize the likelihood of the need for inpatient treatment. The four phases of the treatment, namely, engagement and development of therapeutic contract, helping the family to challenge anorexic symptoms, exploring issues of individual and family development, and ending and discussion of future plans, are discussed. The chapter describes a relatively recent development in family-oriented treatment for AN, and intensive multifamily therapy (MFT) for child and adolescent anorexia nervosa.